"Mmmm… nngh".
I slowly opened my eyes and saw an unfamiliar wall. A beige-coloured wall that I'd never seen before. I sluggishly rolled onto my back and stared at an unfamiliar ceiling with a fancy ceiling light hanging down.
Are we already at the villa?
I slightly raised my head and sleepily looked at the room. I blinked a few times to check if my vision wasn't messing with me. The bed was huge. The room was even bigger.
Is this really the villa? I don't remember this room at all. I don't even remember getting into this bed.
A slight chill hit my body. My body was under the blanket, but I still felt the air on my skin. I lifted the blanket.
Why am I topless? I've only got panties on...
I sat there, staring at my body, trying to organise my thoughts.
Why can't I remember anything? Did I drink?… no, I didn't. I haven't drunk since my birthday.
Step! Step!
Before I could retrace my memory, I heard footsteps coming towards the room. The door was already open, so all I had to do was wait to see who walked through.
"Oh, Maria. You're awake".
An unfamiliar yet familiar male figure walked into the room.
Who?… W-wait. No way.
"Alejandro!?" I panickedly blurted out, covering my chest with the blanket.
Why is Alejandro here!? Why does he look… older? He looks the same but... more mature. This has to be a dream. No, this is a dream.
I slid my hand down my body and pinched my thigh.
I can feel it. How?… No. No. This IS a dream.
"What's wrong?" Alejandro asked, walking closer with a cup in his hand. "Did you have a bad dream?".
"U-uh, wh… I-".
I tried to speak, but no words formed. Seeing Alejandro, who looked to be in his late twenties, still shocked me. It didn't help that he was only in his boxers. I don't know if he was ever this ripped, but face-wise, he looked the same, only more mature. The only significant change was that his hair was all black. He didn't have any brown dyed in.
What do I say? I don't know what to say.
"Maria, are you okay?" he asked, getting onto the bed, edging closer and looking at me closely. "You don't look too good".
"Where am I?" I said, without thinking.
He tilted his head at me like I said something insane.
"You're at home…" he slowly said, confused.
"Home? This isn't my home", I murmured, slowly shaking my head and looking around the room again.
"What do you mean?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "We've been living here for a while now".
"We?" I hesitantly repeated, locking eyes with him.
He placed his cup on his bedside table before looking deeply into my eyes.
"Maria, we're married. You're my wife", he calmly said, showing his left hand. A shiny wedding ring sparkled at me, the shine jabbing my eyes.
"what?...".
After seeing his ring, my heart hammered. I slowly pulled my left hand from under the blanket and brought it out. It was there. On my left hand, there was the same shiny wedding ring.
How did I not notice this?
"Are you feeling sick?" Alejandro asked, leaning his face closer to mine, close enough I could feel his breath.
I instinctively shrank back.
"Uh n-no. I'm just really out of it for some reason", I said, slightly cowering from him and avoiding his eyes.
Married?! No. No. I'm still nineteen. I'm still at Astral Academy. This has to be a dream. Even though it feels real, it is a dream. I need to wake up. That's how I'll get out. This can't last forever. I need to go back to sleep. That'll stop this dream.
I tried closing my eyes but...
I can't close my eyes.
They wouldn't shut. Something was forcing my eyes open. I could blink like normal, but other than that, my eyes stayed open. They refused to stay closed for more than a second. I had no control over my eyelids.
What do I do?
"Maria, are you sick?" Alejandro worryingly asked, gently turning my face with a hand on my chin.
"N-no, I'm fine", I replied, resisting the urge to pull away.
"Should I get you a glass of water? Or should I make you some coffee?".
"Water, please", I quickly replied, nodding my head.
"Okay", he said, getting up. "I only made coffee for myself because I didn't think you'd be awake. If I knew you'd wake up, I would've made you one, too", he smiled at me before leaving the room.
Okay. Calm down. Think. I need answers. I know this is a dream, and it doesn't mean anything, but I need to know how THIS happened. What led us to get married?
Even though I knew it was a dream, part of me was still scared by how real it was. Something inside me was having that doubt. There has to be some truth to it if it was this real. Was this a sign?
When he comes back, I need to ask questions. Is there anything in this room that will help?
I scanned the room, and it looked like a standard bedroom. Well, it's a high-end bedroom. It had a clean, modern aesthetic. There were two other doors on the other side of the room, which I'm guessing is the bathroom and the wardrobe.
It looks like we're both successful. Hold on a minute. My phone! That would help a lot.
I sat up properly and inspected the bed for my phone. I checked under my pillow. No luck. I check under the blanket. No luck. I checked the bedside table. No luck.
My phone isn't here. Did I purposely not have my phone here? No, that would make no sense. My phone would be around the bed. This dream is messing with me.
Step! Step!
Hearing Alejandro coming back, I quickly pulled the blanket over my body.
I should've found something to cover myself with.
Alejandro came back into the room, holding a glass of water. He got closer to the bed and handed me the glass of water.
"Thank you", I softly said, taking the glass from him while still covering my body with the blanket.
I took a sip of water to see what it tasted like.
Nothing. Well, it is water.
Alejandro was carefully watching me slowly functioning. I don't know if he was watching over me or admiring me. I put the glass on my bedside table.
I need to start asking questions.
"This might sound like a stupid question, but… how did we get married again?" I asked, forcing myself to look at him.
His expression changed. He blinked, his mouth slightly open. It looked like he was processing the question. Questioning himself if I was serious or not.
He smiled before saying, "We've been married for three years. You were doing well with your career. You were the face of a few magazines and starred in a couple of big movies. And then we randomly connected again at an after-party. Since that after-party, we started going out, and then things led to one another, and now we're here".
Okay, so we didn't get together during the academy. That relieves me a little. He didn't even mention the academy. Should I make small talk and ask about what happened at the after-party? No, this is a dream. I don't need to. This isn't real. This Alejandro isn't real.
"O-oh yeah, heh, I remember it now", I shamelessly lied, nodding my head and diverting my eyes. "Sorry, I think the dream I had messed with my head.
"What was the dream about?" he asked, scooting closer.
Perfect, now I can change the topic to,
"The academy".
Alejandro paused after hearing that.
"What happened in the dream?" he asked, a bit slower this time.
"I-I can't remember. When I woke up, I forgot everything. But I know I dreamt about the academy", I replied, holding my head and trying to hide my eyes.
He stayed silent. All he did was take a sip of his coffee.
Why is he quiet? Does he not want to talk about the academy?
"What happened at the academy again? I kinda forgot?" I randomly and awkwardly said, trying to act casual.
"Nothing much", he shrugged. "Most people graduated and moved on".
This is the first time he isn't looking at me.
"Do you still talk to people from the academy?".
"One or two. Everyone's doing their own thing", he replied, looking into his coffee.
That didn't give me much. He's barely told me anything. I guess I should be more direct. I know this isn't real, but he's making me nervous asking these questions.
I clenched my fists under the blanket and prepared myself to ask another question.
"Who won? I don't know why I can't remember", I said with a little smile, putting on a cute act.
Alejandro slowly turned his head to me.
"...You don't remember?".
What's with that look? Why is he acting like this?
"No", I honestly and innocently replied, trying to sell it to him.
He reached his right hand for my cheek. I flinched a little before he made contact and caressed it. His hand was warm because of the coffee.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked with a little more concern in his voice and eyes.
I looked deep into his eyes and gave him a little smile for reassurance, "Yeah", I nodded.
After seeing my face, he slowly took his hand off my cheek and placed it back on his cup. He looked back down at his coffee with a sombre look and answered,
"Malakai".
My heart skipped. Automatically, a genuine smile formed that I couldn't stop. Luckily, Alejandro wasn't looking at me to see it.
Malakai really won! He actually did it! But…
"What happened to him? Where is he now?" The words I was thinking came out of my mouth with excitement.
"Why are you asking that?" Alejandro asked, his head snapping to me with his brows furrowed.
Instinctively, my eyes widened, and my body recoiled. It wasn't like he shouted or anything, but that response had a tinge of frustration and resentment.
That was a bad question. I should've phrased it better... or been less excited. He still doesn't like Malakai.
Alejandro sighed,
"I don't know where he is", he said. "No one knows where he is".
"Huh?".
Did he say no one?
"After he won, he left. He disappeared. He didn't stay for the graduation photos. He didn't even come to the reunion. No one knows where he is. Not even his best friends", he said, not even looking at me once.
My heart sank after hearing that. My whole body felt empty, like something left.
Left? Disappeared? Why?
"It was for the best", he continued. "Everyone hated him. A few of his best friends ended up hating him, too",
Alejandro looked at me for the first time in a while. "Even you hated him".
When I thought my heart couldn't sink lower, it somehow did.
I hated Malakai? That's impossible. How? That makes no sense.
"W-wh-why did I hate him?".
"What do you mean why? Don't you rem-" he stopped himself as he remembered that I'd somehow forgotten everything. "He did horrible things to everyone. I don't know what he did to you, but I remember Tanisha hating him the most because of it. I mean, look, he ruined your friendship with Tanisha. You managed to patch it up now, but you can admit you're not as close as you two used to be".
My whole body froze. Nothing was making sense. This was unbelievable, even if it was a dream, and things are not supposed to make sense in dreams. It was hurting being here.
"Honestly, no one wanted him to win. But no one could stop him. Alexander, Destiny, Isabella, Adam, Ryan, Sabrina, Dillon, Ace and the list goes on. Every single one of them lost to him badly", Alejandro said. "On graduation, when he walked up on that stage and got his certificate. It was so quiet. He got a few claps from one or two people who were still his friends, but other than that, the hall was dead quiet. After he got his certificate, he stood on stage, looking at all of us and waited for the few claps he got to finish. Then he got off the stage, walked to the doors and left. No one stopped him. That was the last time anyone had seen him".
My body was still frozen. With every word, I felt a stabbing pain. It was like arrows hitting me one by one. The realism was growing my doubt that this was the future. The realism was killing me.
Please be a dream.
Please be a dream.
Please be a dream.
Please don't be the future.
Please don't be my future.
My eyes started to well up. Tears could fall from my eyes at any moment
"But you don't need to worry about him anymore", he gently said, turning my head to his again.
"Because I love you".
His gaze was suffocating. The look Alejandro gave me was so pure, so gentle, and so warm. But I didn't want this look from any other man, only him.
This feels too real... Is this a dream?
"Oh, hello! Where have you been?".
My eyes weren't focusing, so I didn't realise Alejandro had stopped looking at me. When I concentrated again, I saw Alejandro looking down at his side of the bed. He was talking to something on the floor. He reached down and picked up whatever it was on the floor.
Once he pulled it up. My heart stopped, my breath caught, and my eyes leaked.
"Mama's been acting weird today. She's forgotten everything", Alejandro said in a high-pitched, playful voice. "She definitely didn't forget you".
What I was looking at was Alejandro lying next to me, holding a baby boy in his arms. The baby had my exact skin tone, and I even recognised some of my features. I somehow felt a connection to it. It was mine.
Alejandro turned the baby to me.
"Look, say hi to Mama", he said, holding the baby's arm and gently waving it.
My body stopped working. Everything stopped in my body. No words. No thoughts.
Maybe this is real…
Alejandro let go of the baby and placed it on the bed. The baby started slowly crawling toward me. Locking eyes with me the whole way. When he reached me and crawled onto me, he outstretched his little limbs, and his tiny hand touched my face.
"Mama".
No reaction came out of my mouth. The only thing that happened was tears flooding my eyes and streaming down my cheeks. The tears kept going until they overflowed my eyes. Blurring my vision. Until it eventually blinded me.
"Huuuuh!"
I opened my eyes, and this time, I saw something familiar in front of me. The back of a car seat. My view was sideways, and my head felt like it was resting on something soft, but it wasn't a pillow. There was also a hand gently stroking my head. It was my Mama. I was sleeping on my Mama's lap. We were getting driven to the villa where my family was staying. My brothers and my Papa were already there, so it was just me and Mama in the car.
I slowly lifted my head.
"Oh, you're awake. I saw you fidgeting in your sleep, so I put your head on my lap", Mama said. She paused after seeing my face. "Oh my, you're crying". She wiped the two tears trickling down my face. "Did you have a bad dream?".
I silently and slowly nodded, looking at her, begging for comfort.
"Oh baby... come here", she said, opening her arms.
I instantly fell into them and wrapped my arms around her.
"Do you want to tell me about it?" she asked, caringly.
"No", I whispered, trembling.
"That's fine. Don't worry, we're nearly there", she said, stroking my hair.
I let her warmth calm me down and reel me back into reality.
I don't want that to be my future. Please... let that be a bad dream.
Elsewhere.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
I opened my eyes and turned off the alarm on my phone.
"Tch".
I had that dream again... But I can't remember it. C'mon, remember. What was that dream about? Fuck sake man. What was the dream? Why do I keep forgetting that dream as soon as I wake up?